5/14/2017

This year has been great for the young American Nastasya Generalova with high scores and placement in both Kiev, Sofia and Tashkent. But the clubs routine she did at Portimao this weekend which earned her a 17.400 really took it to the next level. She got a bronze and she could have gotten another medal with ribbon if she had not made an error at the very end. Here she is, waiting for her score:

Nastasya is a very athletic gymnast, who generally has a lot of control and delivers a very stable performance. She remains very cool-headed in the face of challenges and random unexpected mistakes, which can happen to everyone, but for her they would not derail the entire routine.

I have to point out that her leotards and make up are very well chosen. One of the commentators on Russian TV pointed out that her leotard choices really complement her great figure and skin tone. Generally, Russian commentators do not easily dispense with compliments on TV, not even about their own teams.

Everyone can see we have a gymnast with great potential, who can stoically withstand pressure and is aiming high with a lot of difficulty in her routines.

Her pirouettes are really world class and up there with top gymnasts from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Israel and Belarus.

The routines can get cleaner and with more elegance; there could be a lot of finishing touches with her arms and her head, the overall harmony with the music as well.

But we see another great hope for an American in the medals already, building a fantastic American team with Laura Zeng and Evita Griskenas already showing amazing work.

Nastasya was born on January 19, 2000 in California and trains with Tatyana Itkina and Irina Zhurenko. She was the 2016 US bronze medalist with ball and the 2015 junior all around winner at the Rhythmic Invitational in Colorado Springs.